


calm before the storm

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Rose Universe [3]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26770102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: "You're a really good mommy, Maddie."It’s as though she has to remind herself a hundred times a day that it’s all real, even though it’s been almost six months since she first laid eyes on the little family.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Rose Universe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951450
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	calm before the storm

Maddie giggles as Chimney leans over her from behind, his body pressing against her back, just so he can dip his finger in the brownie mix. “You’re going to teach your daughter bad habits.” She points out, laughing harder when his finger smears against her cheek before he places it in his mouth with a popping sound. “Going to make yourself sick.”

There’s something so domestic about the way he places his hand on her waist, his lips moving to the back of her neck. It’s another insignificant moment that would have been laced with fear in her marriage but is filled with nothing but gentle teasing and love with Chimney. “Daddy’s silly!” Rose giggles as she looks at the two adults, a huge grin on her face as she does.

“Daddy is silly, brownies are much, much nicer when they’re actually cooked.” He laughs as he pulls back, hand lingering on her backside in a way that causes a flush on her cheeks as he walks towards the fridge.

The toddler gets up on her tip-toes to peer over the counter, her little hands gripping at the edge as her chin barely rests on it, big brown eyes looking at the array of food Maddie had been focusing on for the last half an hour. “How comes you’re so good at cooking?” Her little innocent voice pulls Maddie’s eyeline down to look at her, resting a hand on top of her head as she shrugs her shoulders, “Daddy’s not good at all.”

“Hey now!”

Both of them laugh until Maddie leans down to lift the little girl up, placing her on the counter so she can get a better look at the lasagne she’s almost done assembling, “Can you teach me?” It takes Maddie a second to answer, as she remembers all the times she had watched her own mother cook, to be turned away and told she was only getting in the way. Even at five or six, she had promised herself that if she ever had a daughter, she’d teach her. Rose isn’t hers, Maddie knows that but sometimes it’s easy to forget, it’s too easy to look at both Han’s and feel as though she’s part of a family. A family of her own.

“Absolutely.” Her face scrunches up as she presses a hand against her cheek, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead, “Tomorrow, we’ll go shopping. Get you your own apron, we’ll find a really cool recipe book, a stool so you can reach the counter and all your own cooking stuff.”

“Really?!”

She hadn’t heard the sound of the fridge door closing but she feels Chimney’s hand on her lower back, his chin resting on her shoulder and she knows he’s just drinking it all in. There’s these moments of silence on his end, moments that used to terrify her but it’s when he’s watching her and his daughter, admiring something he’d never thought he’d see. “Really, we can cook dinner for daddy tomorrow, surprise him.”

She turns her head slightly, opening her mouth to ask a question that so often falls from her lips, making sure that her making plans with Rose is okay, just to make sure he was on the same level of comfort she had managed to find herself in. Before she can though, he shakes his head, wrapping both his arms around from her behind, “You don’t have to ask. And if there’s dessert involved, I’m already looking forward to it.”

Maddie playfully rolls her eyes as she laughs, “Ah, yes, there will definitely be dessert involved.”

“Chocolate!” The enthusiastic voice of the three-year-old sounds loudly through the apartment as she claps her hands together with an equally enthusiastic, loud laugh. The sort of sound that automatically brings a surge of love to rush through her as she looks at Rose, and then behind her at Chimney, unable to believe how lucky she is to have them, both of them.

“With you two chocoholics? Of course. Now, how about daddy sets the table whilst Little Miss Rose helps me put the last bit of cheese on top of this before we put it in the oven.”

“Then the brownies?”

“Yes, Chimney, then the brownies.” She brushes her fingers through Rose’s long hair as she steps away from her boyfriend, “I swear your daddy would skip dinner and just eat dessert if we let him.”

“Silly daddy.”

Her grin is wide as she holds out the board of grated cheese to the little girl, watching as she grabs a handful and scatters it over the lasagne with a satisfied smile on her face as she does. “That’s right, silly daddy.”

. 

Maddie can’t stop the smile on her face when she feels Rose’s hand tighten its grip on her own. It feels good to be trusted by her, even more so to be trusted by Chimney with the most important person in his life. It’s still terrifying though, to know she’s responsible for someone so precious. “Maddie? Do you think daddy will like what I picked?”

“I think daddy will love anything you pick, Ro.” She grins down at the little girl, who looks back up at her with the biggest, most adorable smile on her face. Their shopping trip had been a success so far, they had gotten everything she could have needed to get Rose started in the kitchen which included matching aprons for both them and Chimney (Maddie had almost teared up when the little girl had suggested the idea because although she felt as though, most of the time, they were a family, the reminder still caused her heart to feel as though it was going to burst out her chest).

Even when she thinks about that moment, she feels her heart starting to ache in the best way possible, her eyes stinging with tears before she takes a breath. They had spent the drive to the grocery store, from the mall, talking about all of the recipes that Rose wanted to do from her new cookbook, and the excitement in the little girls voice had made Maddie smile more than she ever thought possible. Really, if someone had told her that this was what her life would be like even a year ago, she’d have never thought it possible. Her husband, although dead, had still haunted her for a long time and it was something she never thought she’d get over. At least, not until one fateful late shift at the ER when Chimney and Rose had walked through the doors.

“Making pizza sounds fun, doesn’t it, Maddie?” There’s that sweet voice again, pulling her from her thoughts as she nods her head, finally letting go of the little girls hand so she can run towards the vegetable section of the store. “We can have _anything_ we want on them!”

Her excitement over what seems like such a small thing, considering how many times she’s made pizza in her life, is causing a similar feeling to bubble up inside of her as she nods her head, “We can!”

Maddie watches her carefully and affectionately as she practically runs through the aisles, grabbing everything on her list with so much energy and eagerness, that it’s only the innate desire Maddie has to keep an eye on her that she manages to keep up. They’re standing in the freezer aisle and she’s standing back, just observing the way Rose looks between two tubs of ice cream, trying to decide which one daddy would love the most, her tongue out between her lips in pure concentration, when an elderly lady walks past. “Your daughter is so precious.”

Her mouth opens, although she’s not sure what she wants to say – Rose isn’t her daughter, she’s Chimney’s and a woman’s she has never met and never will meet. “T-thanks.” Is all she manages to stammer out, trying to push back the betrayal she feels inside of her, it’s not the first time someone has just assumed and she knows it won’t be the last. But, usually Chimney is there to deflect and now she’s alone, partly hoping Rose didn’t hear her.

“Chocolate brownie,” Her cheeks are still red when she looks down at the little girl, holding up a tub of ice cream that she seems to have finally decided on, “Think daddy would want this.” It’s with a nod of agreement that Maddie takes the tub and pops it in the basket, her hand moving to gently run over the little girls cheek, gently running her knuckle over her tiny nose before she scrunches up her own face.

“Daddy definitely would. Homemade pizza cooked by his favourite girl _and_ chocolate ice cream? Daddy is going to be very, very happy tonight.”

A small hand slips into her own, “You’re a really good mommy, Maddie. Just like daddy is a really good daddy.”

Maddie squeezes her hand gently, biting down on her lip in an attempt to stop the tears from falling as she nods her head, “You’re a really good daughter, Rosie-bear. Now, let’s see if we can beat daddy home and hide our shopping bags before he sees.”

.

It’s with an excited squeal and a jump from Rose that lets Maddie know that Chimney has just walked through the door. She turns around as she places the bowl of salad in the middle of the table, a grin on her face as she watches the little girl bound towards him, causing both of their eyes to light up the second he’s lifted her into his arms. Rose is doing what Rose does best which is talking at about a million miles per hour, half of which makes barely any sense because she’s three and the rest of it she can just about make out. Although Chimney is nodding away like he completely understands.

“Sounds like you both had a very fun day.” Chimney finally lets the little girl back down, messing up her hair as he does, causing her to pout and let out a huff. “And all this food looks amazing, did you do all this Ro-Ro?”

“Yep! Maddie helped but I was in charge!”

“That’s right, she’s going to make a wonderful chef someday, if that’s what she wants.” Her hand affectionately moves to pat down on long, dark hair, trying to at least lessen the mess Chimney had caused. “And how is our wonderful paramedic?” Maddie grins the second his lips move to hers, the hand that’s not on top of his daughter’s head, moving to rest against his cheek as they kiss.

“Even better now I’m here with my two favourite girls.” Chimney whispers, his nose brushing against hers when he pulls back, their eyes meeting for a moment. Its only Rose’s hands pulling on both of their arms that pulls them apart, stopping them from drinking each other in any longer. Although Maddie is entirely certain she could stare at him for hours and have him smiling at her that way for just as long and never want to tear her eyes away. She’s still not used to someone looking at her with so much care and devotion. “So,” He takes a breath, his eyes darting down to the little girl and then at the table, “what do we have here?”

“Pizza! We made it!”

Maddie nods her head in agreement, lips moving to his cheek, “I’m just going to go wash up but go check out your pizza, Ro made it special just for you.” Her face scrunches up when she finds her hand back on his cheek and it’s as though she simply can’t stop touching him or staring at him and the little girl who have made their way into her life and her heart. It’s as though she has to remind herself a hundred times a day that it’s all real, even though it’s been almost six months since she first laid eyes on the little family.

Maddie can tell by the hand that lingers on her waist a little too long as she pulls back that he at least feels some of what she’s feeling. And whilst she absolutely adores the three year old who is currently explaining step by step what they did to make pizza, she kind of can’t wait to get him alone.

It’s when she’s walking out of the bathroom and back towards the dining room a few minutes later that she finds herself pausing, biting down on her lip when she hears Rose’s voice, only slightly more serious than she had been when she left the two of them. “I told Maddie she’s a good mommy, is that okay, daddy?”

“If that’s how you feel Ro-Ro, then absolutely. No one can ever replace your mom and me and Aunt Katie will tell you as much about her as we possibly can. But it’s okay to feel that way about Maddie, too, she makes us happy, right?”

“Lots and lots.”

“And we make her happy.” She smiles, wiping at the tears that have fallen down her cheeks as she listens in on their conversation, leaning up against the wall as she bites down on her lip. Maddie can just imagine the smile on his face as he talks, hearing it in his voice, closing her eyes as she tries to imagine a time in her life she had ever been happier than she was right then, if she had ever felt so much love or felt so loved.

There’s a pause and Maddie seizes her opportunity to walk back into the room with a smile on her face, “How about we eat this pizza before it gets cold?” The second she sits down on the chair across from Rose and closest to Chimney, his hand moves to hers as she turns her head towards him with a grin.

She definitely couldn’t imagine being any happier than she was right then.


End file.
